"Ghost... ghost ship!"
After the rain was over, behind Victor and Wu Ming, the following sailors, Vidi and others all let out sharp screams when they saw the sailboat.
"Lay down the lifeboat, I want to go up and have a look!"
As an old seaman, Victor clearly felt the difference in this ghost ship. Under the sun, it looked like a dilapidated wooden ship, without the strange fluorescence and frightening effect in the storm. trembling aura.
"Hurry up! Don't dawdle!" He yelled: "As a navigator, it is really a very lucky thing to be able to explore on the ghost ship by yourself!"
Obviously, the captain was very courageous, and even made a decision on his own regardless of the opposition of the crew.
"In that case, how about I accompany you?"
Wu Ming was next to him, smiling and making a suggestion: "I'm also very interested in this kind of ship!"
"This... okay!"
After meeting Wu Ming's unfathomable eyes, Victor hesitated for a while, and immediately agreed.
"Steven, are you crazy?"
Alice stood on the deck with a tangled expression on her face: "If something happens to you..."
"This is an adventure! Do you understand an adventure?"
To Wu Ming's slight surprise, Vidi put on a life jacket for himself, and got into the lifeboat as well: "The ghost ship on the sea, this matter will definitely become my bragging capital for the rest of my life!"
"It's really..."
Wu Ming smiled wryly and shook his head, knowing that the reason why Vidi dared to come down was probably because of himself, so he couldn't help but secretly nod his head.
Although this guy's character and perseverance are not very good, he still has some loyalty, so he might as well support him in the future.
"Okay, the two of us, plus a few sailors are enough, Alice, can you take care of Angelina for me?"
Wu Ming stared into Alice's eyes, making it impossible for her to utter the words of rejection.
"Okay, okay! Based on my many years of sailing experience, a ghost ship that can float in the sun is not too dangerous..."
Victor clapped his hands, and Wu Ming and Wu Ming slowly approached the ghost ship with a paddle.
The huge three-masted sailboat was quietly parked on the sea surface, the wooden boards around it were rotten, and there was a stench.
"careful!"
The third officer on the yacht was about to grab a wooden plank and flip onto the boat. Suddenly, he heard a 'click', and the plank was pulled down by him, and he fell into the sea in astonishment.
The sea water was still very cold in the early morning, and this guy was rescued back to the lifeboat immediately with trembling, apparently unable to participate in the subsequent exploration.
"Be careful, the timbers of this sailboat are rotten..."
Victor held his pipe in his mouth and looked at the sailboat with nostalgia in his eyes: "I suspect that just one wave will cause it to fall apart. Ships of such age are very rare..."
Wu Ming carefully used his flying claws to trap a relatively strong-looking mast, and Victor climbed up first.
"This floor... makes me feel guilty!"
Wu Ming followed immediately, and Vidi was the last one. He stepped on the deck of the three-masted sailboat, with sweat on his face.
It has been in disrepair for a long time and has been soaked in sea water, making the wooden boards very soft. Although it feels very comfortable to step on, Wu Ming doubts whether he will directly punch a hole in the deck with his force.
"Don't worry too much, the keel of this ship is quite strong..."
Victor looked at the ship carefully, with a look of doubt on his face: "She is stronger than I thought. Is it because of the ghosts?"
Click!
At this point, he no longer hesitated, opened the hatch directly and entered the cabin.
The gas searchlight gave off a bright light, and a foul smell came from the room. The floor was damp, and there were even some seaweed and shellfish crawling on it, creating a gloomy and terrifying atmosphere.
"Gulu! Guru!"
Victor opened a door at random, and the entire door shattered. Immediately, several white skeletons fell down, and the hollow skulls were spinning on the ground, causing Vidi to scream.
"This should be the crew's rest room. I don't know what happened to them in the first place, and they were allowed to die here together. It seemed like there was no struggle at all..."
Victor looked at this scene, but his expression became serious.
He and Wu Ming looked at each other and both walked to the best seat in the cabin, which was the captain's private space.
Peng!
The wooden door was split open, revealing a somewhat old cabin.
In the Age of Discovery, due to the limited space on ships, we had to make full use of it and load more goods. Having an independent cabin was definitely a proof of identity on the ship!
Victor's vicious eyes immediately stared at the desk, where Wu Ming was standing, having already taken out a black and thick logbook.
This book has obviously been well protected against moisture and moth. Even though it has been washed for an unknown amount of time, it can still be read.
"Logbook? Captain's diary?"
Victor curled his lips and showed a somewhat sarcastic smile: "Mr. Steven, do you think this is still the age of pirates, and those captains would find their private collections and bury them on a desert island, leaving behind maps? ?”
After entering the industrialization era, this inefficient method has long been abandoned.
The private wealth of the captains is either directly deposited in the bank and designated heirs, or it has been squandered long ago, or it has purchased stocks, funds and other value-preserving products. Where can there be anything left
As for the more important private routes, after the great geographical discovery, even the world map was drawn. Perhaps a certain route described by the late captain was priceless at the time, but it must have been full now. Merchant ship!
He was somewhat interested in the captain's collection.
Although some luxury goods have perished, gold and silverware do not.
"According to international practice, all discoveries in the high seas belong to the explorers... Steven and Mr. Vidi, you participated in this expedition and you can also allocate a share in it!"
Captain Victor said with a smile, regardless of the second officer's expression next to him.
After estimating the value of these 'legacy', he gave up the idea of taking it all for himself. After all, there were not many valuable things on this ghost ship, and it was not worth his risk.
When Wu Ming and others hired him, his appearance, name and ship had already been registered. Why would he become a pirate for such a small amount of wealth? Especially messing with such a group of second-generation people who seem to have a good background
Years of life experience made Captain Victor immediately give up this idea.
"We also have a share?!"
Vidi's eyes lit up and he cheered.
It's not that he cares about how much money he can earn, it's just that the thought of getting a 'proof' of a certain adventure from here, which can be used as capital for bragging and collection in the future, is a very honorable thing.
"I'm very happy to be able to participate in this expedition, but I don't ask for anything in return..."
Wu Ming smiled slightly, but the words he said made Captain Victor change his expression: "It's just... why do you want to auction these things? How about giving them away?"
"What do you mean?"
Before Victor could speak, the second mate who was tall, thick, muscular, and round-waisted jumped out and shouted.
"Did the captain recognize the origin of this ship?"
Wu Ming didn't answer and looked directly at Victor.
"If I read it correctly, this should be a slave ship that was very active at the time. Of course, as long as it sank in the high seas, it would become something without an owner!"
Victor shows the extraordinary vision and quality of a captain.
"Indeed, this was a slave ship, and it was also the famous **** Seamount at the time!"
Wu Ming patted the logbook on his hand.
"****Seamount?! ****... **** family!"
Victor exclaimed: "That big business group in the kingdom's navigation and shipbuilding industry?!"
"Huh, even so, do they dare to go beyond the law and cause trouble?"
Vidi and the second officer both expressed this intention, but Victor remained silent.
"The most valuable thing here are some treasures in the captain's room, the value is less than 10,000 gold dollars!"
The appraiser's experience makes Wu Ming very qualified to say this, "But if we return it to the **** family, we will gain their friendship. I don't know if Captain Victor has any experience with other businesses. Interested?"
"Other business?"
"That's right! I'm very interested in the relics and treasures in the high seas, and I plan to set up a salvage company! I was still hesitating about manpower and channels, but now, everything has been resolved!"
Wu Ming looked at Victor, "If you agree, I am willing to let you become my partner, and I will invest one million gold dollars in advance!"
"one million?"
The second officer exclaimed, the purchasing power of gold dollars in this era is very high, which is obviously an astonishing wealth, compared with this, the ghost ship is nothing at all.
"An ocean salvage company?"
Victor touched his chin: "Could it be that you have some inside information?"
He strongly suspected that Wu Ming had obtained a certain shipwreck map, so he paid attention to it. Otherwise, this kind of salvage company would basically be lucky, and most of them would lose money.
Wu Ming also smiled inscrutablely. Of course, he would not say that he just wanted to discover the possible ruins in the deep sea, and he was ready to pay for it.
Of course, this cannot be said at this time.
"I just believe that once we have the friendship and contacts of the **** family, if Captain Victor is willing to join us again, our business will definitely be a great success!"
Wu Ming accentuated his tone.
"We can wait until we go back to talk about this matter..."
A trace of hesitation appeared on Victor's face, and he turned into a wry smile: "At this age, you can think of so much, I finally know why I have been poor all my life..."